Motive sought in triple killing

Sunday

Nov 10, 2013 at 12:01 AMNov 10, 2013 at 8:44 AM

STOCKTON - Neighbors were startled by the sound of gunshots and the cry of a frightened little boy late Friday night when gunfire erupted inside a southeast Stockton home where three people died and two others were wounded, witnesses said.

Jason Anderson

STOCKTON - Neighbors were startled by the sound of gunshots and the cry of a frightened little boy late Friday night when gunfire erupted inside a southeast Stockton home where three people died and two others were wounded, witnesses said.

The triple homicide occurred about 11:45 p.m. in the 3100 block of South Laurel Street, just east of South B Street and south of Michael Avenue, said Deputy Les Garcia, a spokesman for the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office. A 6-year-old boy escaped the home during the shooting and fled to a nearby house, according to two neighbors who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared for their safety.

"He ran out of the house and started knocking on everybody's doors, screaming and asking for help," one neighbor said while dabbing tears from her eyes. "He was in shock. He just said they were shooting and everybody in the house was dead."

According to authorities, three people were pronounced dead on the scene. Two other victims were taken to hospitals. The names of the dead were not released pending identification and notification of kin, authorities said.

Neighbors who spoke to the victims' relatives said those killed were a married couple in their 50s and their son, who was in his 30s.

The couple's daughter, in her 20s, was shot in her arm and back, and her boyfriend was shot in the jaw, but both survived, neighbors said. The 6-year-old boy was placed in the custody of Child Protective Services about 5 a.m. Saturday, neighbors said.

Authorities learned of the shooting when a man called 911 to report that he, his girlfriend and others had been shot. One neighbor said she saw two men fleeing the scene when she looked outside after hearing about 20 shots fired inside the victims' home.

Witnesses described the gunmen as two bald Latino men in their 30s, one short and one tall. Both were wearing "mostly blue" clothing with jeans and tennis shoes, witnesses said.

They fled to an older black pickup truck parked across the street and drove north on South Laurel Street toward Michael Avenue.

Detectives didn't leave the scene until Saturday afternoon. Investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the shooting, Garcia said, but friends and relatives suspect it was gang related.

Neighbors described the older woman who lived in the home as a friendly person who loved her family and their pets, including a number of baby kittens that slept and played in the driveway Saturday afternoon. The woman's husband often played romantic Spanish music on his car radio while the couple watered plants lining the chain-link fences in their front yard.

On Friday morning, a little more than 12 hours before the shooting, the woman visited neighbors to show off her newborn granddaughter. The newborn was not in the home at the time of the shooting, authorities said.

"She was a real bubbly person and real loving," one neighbor said of the older woman. "She would talk about her life, whether she was happy or sad. I remember her telling me that the daughter's boyfriend was living there and she was concerned that (people) were going to shoot at her house. She was always scared of him. She told him to leave about three days ago, but he just wouldn't leave. She said he was causing a lot of problems and she was always scared."

Neighbors said the couple had other adult children who were not inside the home when the shooting occurred. They described the family as "close" and said they gathered at the home each weekend for Sunday dinners.

"I talked to one of their daughters, and they're falling apart like anybody would be," one neighbor said. "They're devastated. She said she feels like she's all alone in this world - like she has nothing left."

More than a dozen people prayed around a makeshift memorial outside the home Saturday afternoon, leaving behind candles and flowers.

"Nothing like this has ever happened on this block," one woman said. "Most of us have kids and now we don't know if we should let our kids play outside. We're scared."